56 BOTANICAL GAZETTE, | March, 
a reduced perianth. Only one other point in this connection, om 
which the writer feels competent to express an opinion. What 
Prof. Gray once suggested, but with an important reservation, 
might be the equivalent of an involucre in Lastarriva in the sub- 
tending whorl of cauline bracts, is utterly inadmissible from the 
fact that besides the so-called perianth, they encircle invariably 
the extending axis, thus showing that it is a true cauline and not 
a floral appendage. This is also clearly not the case in Oxytheca 
luteola (or any other Eriogonous species), where as in the former 
case the irregular whorl of spines enclose only the cluster of 
bracted perianths. ; 
n conclusion, may we not express the earnest hope, in the 
true interest of systematic botany, that before botanical science 
is loaded down with useless synonyms, or made obscure by crude 
speculations and rash innovations, those who venture to leap will 
first take a long and careful look. 
Botanizing in Texas, I. 
J. REVERCHON. 
By “ botanizing ” I do not mean taking a railroad and stop- 
ping at such and such a station, taking a ramble or two in the 
neighboring hills, or sometimes jumping from the cars at a coal 
station, tempted by some tantalizing plant, and running back 
with only the top of said plant, at the call of the imperious 
whistle, and after that running may be a hundred miles before 
stopping again. That is not my way, as the railroads do not 
pass exactly where many nice things are found, and I don’t care 
to be in a hurry. 
So we started, my wife and I, and Robert Freeman, April 8, 
1885, from our home in Dallas county. Freeman was a fine 
fellow, exactly fit for driving, hunting, fishing, and other duties 
invaluable on such a trip. Had we met some strayed Apaches 
or unruly Mexicans, he would have been equal to the emergency. 
ur covered wagon, drawn by a good team, was packed wit 
provisions, drying papers, arms, ete. It would seem as if we 
were fixed to travel any length of time, and over any extent of 
country. I will not venture to describe our appearance, and 
must not forget that I am writing for botanists, anxious that I 
begin to botanize. 
The evening sees us in the “ Lower Cross-timbers,” a vast 
belt of sandy post-oak land that extends a long distance north 
